Motor oil filter wrench assembly



p 9, 1969 L. WINANS 3,465,622

MOTOR OIL FILTER WRENCH ASSEMBLY Filed Aug. 7, 1967 I INVENTOR. LINNAEUS WINANS 3 ATTORNEY United States Patent i US. Cl. 8164 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A friction wrench assembly for use on a cylindrical body, particularly a customary motor oil filter, so constructed and arranged that it can be used in locations which would not be readily accessible for other wrenches.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Standardized oil filters for most automobiles are cylindrical containers which have means for being secured on the motor body (such as a threaded recess adapted to be engaged by a correspondingly threaded boss on the motor body). The exact location of such oil filter varies with different makes of motor engines, but, due to the fact that the area about the motor in an average motor vehicle is largely utilized by auxiliary portions of the entire engine assembly, the mounting location for the oil filter on the motor is usually at a place which is inconvenient to reach and which is so crowded that ordinary friction wrenches, adapted for cylindrical objects, cannot be employed. When an oil filter of this type has been in service for such a length of time that it needs replacing the filter will frequently have become so firmly stuck in place that considerable effort is required to pry it loose. Attempts to do so very often result in puncturing or breaking open the filter and the resulting spilling of oil makes the work dirty and messy as well as troublesome and time-consuming. Observance of and experiences with the problem of the removal and replacement of the common motor oil filter with various makes of automobiles have led to the development of the device of the present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The wrench assembly of the present invention comprises a semiflexible metal clamping band adapted to be slipped on the free end of a common cylindrical oil filter. One end of the clamping band carries a bearing in which a socket disc is mounted for partial rotation. An arm extending from the socket disc has a link attached thereto. The opposite end of this link is attached to the other end of the clamping band. A center opening in the socket disc forms the socket for receiving the bit member in a ratchet handle device, or optionally, for receiving the bit end of an adapter rod which in turn is connected with the ratchet handle device. The portion of the wrench assembly which is placed on the end of the cylindrical oil filter requires only a minimum amount of space. The socket disc, which may be operated either directly by the bit of the ratchet handle device if convenient, or, as previously mentioned, may be operated indirectly through the intermediary of an adapter rod of any suitable length connected with the ratchet handle device, enables the assembly to be used on the filter whether the filter has its axis horizontal or vertical, and the assembly, in one arrangement and position or another, may be used conveniently even in the least accessible locations in which such filters are likely to be mounted.

3,465,622 Patented Sept. 9, 1969 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an elevation showing the entire assembly employed in the removal of a standard oil filter, illustrating the use of the assembly when the axis of the filter is inclined slightly from the horizontal; this figure showing the ratchet handle portion being used directly with the clamping portion of the assembly;

FIG. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 drawn to a larger scale and with the ratchet handle portion of the assembly omitted;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary section on the line indicated at 33 at FIG. 2 drawn to a still larger scale;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary section on line 4-4 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an elevation of the entire assembly, similar to FIG. 1, but showing the oil filter so mounted on an engine that the axis of the filter is inclined slightly from the vertical, and also showing the ratchet handle portion of the assembly connected with the clamping portion of the assembly through the intermediary of an adapter rod.

Referring first to FIG. 1, the cylindrical oil filter of the customary type, with which the present invention is particularly concerned, is indicated by the reference 10, and in this figure the oil filter is illustrated as mounted on part of the motor indicated by the broken lines A. It is assumed also in this instance that the motor is so arranged that the filter must be mounted as shown, that is with its axis slightly inclined from the horizontal, and with very little clearance between the mounted filter and another portion A of the composite engine assembly located under the hood of the automotive vehicle, a condition which is not uncommon.

The filter has the customary threaded recess 11 which receives the threaded mounting lug on the motor. For the purpose of description it is further assumed that, as is generally the case, the filter 10 needs to be replaced and has become so firmly stuck to the motor that a moderate amount of force is necessary to free it from its mounting.

Referring also to FIG. 2, the filter-clamping portion 12 of the wrench assembly includes a semiflexible metal band or split tension ring 13 of the proper diameter, when not in tension, to he slipped over the free end of the filter 10 as shown in FIG. 1. A pair of ears 14 and 14', of identical shape, are rigidly mounted on one end portion of the tension ring 13, parallel to each other and spaced a slight distance apart. The ears 14, 14 are formed with inwardlyextending opposed circular flanges 15, 15' respectively (see FIGS. 3 and 4), of identical size and in transverse axial alignment. The flanges 15, 15' form circular recesses 35, 35 respectively which together provide a bearing mounting for a rotatable socket disc 16. The ears 14, 14 also have circular openings 23, 23' respectively, co-axial with the flanges 15, 15' but of smaller diameter. The socket disc 16 has an integral arm 17 which extends centrally out between the flanges 15, 15' with slight clearance, enabling the disc 16 to rotate and the arm 17 to swing in an arc while the ears 14, 14' remain substantially relatively stationary with respect to the tension ring 13.

An elongated rib 19 (FIGS. 1 and 2) is rigidly mounted on the other end of the tension ring 13, being centrally positioned between the lateral edges of the ring. A link 20 is bifurcated at both ends. One bifurcated end of the link 20 straddles the end portion of the rib 19 and is pivotally attached to the rib 19 by a suitable pivot pin 21. The other bifurcated end of the link 20 similarly straddles the end of the arm 17 of the socket disc 16 and is similarly attached to the arm 17 by suitable pivot pin 22.

The socket disc 16 has a central aperture or channel 18, preferably square in shape, which is accessible through the openings 23, 23' of the ears 14, 14. This central channel 18 in the socket disc serves as the receiving socket for the male or hit portion of the turning or tensioning element connected with a suitable operating handle. In the arrangement shown in FIG. 1 the bit member of the ratcheT handle device 25 is inserted directly in the socket channel 18 of the socket disc. Thus, as apparent, operation of the ratchet handle (clockwise as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2), results clamping the tension ring 13 and enables the oil filter to be forcibly turned and freed from its attachment on the motor.

When the oil filter is mounted in some such position as shown in FIG. 5 there would, in all probability, be insufiicient room adjacent the oil filter to enable the ratchet handle to be used directly with the clamping or tension ring. In such case an adapter rod 24, of any suitable convenient length, is interposed between the ratchet handle and the tension ring, the adapter rod having a bottom end formed to constitute a male bit fitting into the socket channel of the socket disc and having the opposite top end formed into a socket for receiving the bit of the ratchet handle.

From the examples shown by FIGS. 1 and 5 it will be understood that the filter wrench assembly, in one form or another, may be satisfactorily employed for removing a common oil filter practically in any of the positions and crowded locations in which such filters are customarily mounted on the engines of automotive vehicles.

I claim:

1. A wrench assembly for gripping and turning a cylindrical object such as a motor oil filter, said assembly comprising a semi-flexible split tension ring, a socket disc, a mounting for said disc on the outside of one end of said ring, said mounting comprising a pair of parallel ears on said ring, each of said ears having an annular inwardlyextending flange, said flanges being of the same size and spread apart in transverse axial alignment, said ears and said flanges constituting a pair of opposed circular recesses containing said socket disc, an extending arm on said disc, an elongated rib rigidly secured on the outside of the other end of said tension ring, a link member, the ends of said link member pivotally connected to said rib and to said arm respectively, the said disc carrying a noncircular central channel forming a socket, said ears having circular openings coaxial with but of a smaller diameter than the inside diameter of said flanges, said openings providing access to said central channel in said socket disc, and disc-turning means having a bit end fitting into said channel.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,598,561 8/1926 Coomer 81-64 1,670,583 5/1928 Lawrence 81-64 X 2,995,965 8/1961 Hockney 81-64 3,205,735 9/1965 Martin 81-68 JAMES L. JONES, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 813.43 

